next people in san bruno get precious time to see what the explosion and fire did to their homes. and a life changed in an instant. a local jockey horribly injured when his horse goes injured when his horse goes down. [ male announcer ] it's ram truck season. and the 60-day handshake lives on, that five-finger bond that communicates trust, honor, follow-through, and follow-up. it's a promise that says go ahead and buy a ram 1500 or a heavy duty without a payment for 60 days. and if it doesn't do everything you ask it to do... bring it back. ram.

protect them from the danger, but nothing could protect them from the gut wrenching emotion of seeing your home in utter ruin. good evening. amid the ashes, tough questions tonight. federal investigatorses are asking whether pg&e should have done more to help firefighters. could the utility have uh you -- have allowed first responderses to get closer faster? would more homes have been saved? amy hollyfield is live in san bruno. amy? >> the first responders spoke out for the first time, and they say the fireball was unlike anything they had seen in their lives. federal investigatorses want

to know if the fire could have been put out more quickly. firefighters were so overwell med when they saw what they were up against. they didn't have enough people to fight the fire and help the victim. >> what we did was our citizens drove people with second-degree burns on their face to the hospital. >> they asked for fight against the fire. >> there were citizens helping us drag fire hose and it was all hand on deck in every sense of the word. >> matt didn't hesitate. >> it was like, boom. we have to help people. this is my city. >> he pulled hoses through people's homes to get people close to the fire quickly. >> they hook it up to the fire high drandz. >> they didn't get the crucial help they needed for more than an hour. that's how long it took. -- that's how long to shut the

gas off, and investigatorses want to know why. >> the two valves on both sides of this event, a mile, mile and a half away are manual. thisy have to be turned manually to be turned off. >> they will look into why the line doesn't have valves that shut off automatically which some pg&e lines do have. investigators have asked the public to come forward and give them information that could help them figure out why this happened. they have received close to 90 e-mails. >> with 90 e-mails only one of the e-mails reported that a person smelled gas. it was several weeks ago they called pg&e and they got a response to it. >> while investigators work on figuring out whether a slow gas leak or a sudden failure caused this explosion, firefighters are trying to help their community rebuild. >> if you can only imagine that happens to your neighbor on your own block, it is a horrible feeling. >> pg&e officialses say they can't answer questions about the valves because the ntsb is

in charge of the investigation. ntsb investigators will be interviewing those pg&e employees who shut down those valves. live in san bruno, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >> amy, thanks. the abc7 news i-team went through some new radio transmissions from the san bruno fire. as we told you last night, the first responders thought a plane crashed. but tonight it is clear that commercial pilot had a better vantage point. listen -- >> it looks like an off duty in the area. a plane crashed into houses and the houses are on fire now. >> call for fourth alarm. it appears we have a plane down in the neighborhood. the whole struck tour is on fire and we have a fireball still coming out. >> but pilots taking off and landing at san francisco international airport, a short distance away, knew right away it wasn't a plane crash. >> i'm sure it must be a gas line or something.

the smoke is up to 8,500. >> it looks like a whole block. >> could be a ruptured gas main. there is a huge ball of fire there. it probably engulfed the whole -- almost a half a city block or so. >> we have posted audio from those radio transmissions at abc7news.com. it is really fascinating material if you would like to hear more of it. officials have identified a fourth person killed in thursday's explosion. 81-year-old elizabeth torres lived at 1660 clairemont drive just yards from the blast site. also killed were torres' neighbors on clairemont, jacqueline greeg and her 13-year-old daughter jawness saw as well as jessica morales that lived on earl avenue. burned out families waited desperately to get back home to see what was left. today when they finally got the chance, what many found was excruciating. some found more left of their

lives than others. here is lisa amin gulezian. >> the shock was easy to say. this woman stood in the same place for more than a minute frozen in the spot she once called home. late today the san bruno firefighters allowed only a few residents whose homes were uninhabitable back, but only for an hour. some had to wear protective suits just in case. he jumped at the chance to go home for a little while. fire officials gave him 45 minutes notice to get to his house on clairemont drive and start clearing it out. >> on the side of the room there is a lot of water damage. >> reporter: it is pretty much what he expected considering what happened at his neighbor's house, he knows he is lucky. they are moving to belmont temporarily. they don't know if they will return to clairemont drive even if they could. >> whether we will be comfortable moving back in, that's a different story.

my wife and children ran screaming barefoot down the street with a fireball behind them. it is hard to bring the kids back to the neighborhood. >> in san bruno, lisa amin gulezian, abc7 us into. and questions are being raised whether pg&e customerses may have to foot some of the bill for the san bruno fire. during a hearing, pg&e asked for the go ahead from state regulators to charge customers for wildfire damage that exceeds insurance coverage. >> what they are asking is a gigantic insurance company for all of the utilities up and down the state. >> the timing of today's hearing lead to questions whether pg&e might use this plan to pay for the san bruno fire. but pg&e insists this proposal would be used only to help out with wildfire damage. not what happened in san bruno. governor schwarzenegger will make his first visit to the site tomorrow. he has been on a trade mission in asia since the explosion, but he flies back to california tomorrow and plans to go directly to san bruno

and visit with folks there and see the damage firsthand for himself. on to other matters now. uc berkeley graduate sarah shourd is out of an iranian prison and reunited with her mother. they embraced hours after sarah was released on half a million dollars bail. imam played a crate cal role in the released and making sure they don't violate sanctions against iran. she was jailed for the past 14 months after she and her boyfriend and a friend were hiking around the border of iraq. >> i wanted to thank the iranian officials and the religious figures, everyone who was a part of making this moment happen for me and for my family. >> share raw shored's -- sarah shourd and her family are focused on getting the others home jie. we are working on getting josh and shane home.

that's our only mission. >> i was disappointed that shane didn't come back and josh didn't come back. i was hoping they could all come back together. >> however, so far iran has shown no sign of wanting to free either of those men shan shan a marin county -- h. - there is a review of the tasing of this man in his own home. this video is from a camera mounted on a deputy's taser. peter mcfarland was just treated by paramedics following a fall when two sheriff deputies arrived. they tasered him three times when he refused to go with them to the hospital to be checked out. mcfarland is suing the deputies. mayor gavin newsom is promising to veto a alcohol fee. under this new law bars and interest distributors would be charged .35 cents for every gallon of beer they sell and

$1 for wine and $3 for hard liquor. the fee would generate $16 million to help pay for alcohol treatment programs and drunk driving arrests. again, the mayor is promising to veto that measure. well, it was another big night for the tea party. tonight in delaware, the tea party-backed candidate beet the nine-term man. the party establishment candidate in the gop governor's race. also tonight in new york, democratic voters renominated the long-time congressman charlie wrangle. the house ethics committee accused wrack wrangle of -- wrangle of violations. toyota is asking a judge to throw out hundreds of lawsuits from drivers claiming sudden acceleration. the lawmaker told a federal judge that the drivers' attorneys do not identify any specific defects with toyota vehicles.

hundreds of lawsuits were filed against toyota this year after the automaker recalled millions of vehicles because of acceleration and bake problems. -- brake problems. up next, an up and coming jockey and a life-changing crash at golden gate field. and the court ordered reunion between a woman and a dog she lost years ago. and what's in a name? the baby who is renewing hope for the miners trapped under ground in chile. all of that is coming up here. and then late other "nightline." >> coming up, the price of gold is a sky high new record as everyone it seems from the biggest bankers to the smallest savers pile it on, but should you invest? and life at the chilean mine site has become a deadly site has become a deadly serious drararararararararararaa

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bay area racetrack. a jockey paralyzed in a fall over the weekend. a tragedy just as he is

expecting the birth of his first child any day now. abc7's alan wang with what happened and the faith the man's family has he will walk and ride again. >> out of business, is he? >> in a split second, a 1,000-pound thoroughbred triped and fell, crushing her 108-pound jockey, michael martinez. the impact shatter ited three of michael's vertebrae which severed his spinal cord, paralyzing him from the waist down. doctors were afraid he might not make it until today. >> they actually asked him his name and he responded michael, and so that's a good sign. >> here they say martinez has a gift, the kind you can't teach a jockey. a special way of connecting with horseses to get the most out of them. at 2 4 years of age, martinez is a rising talent at golden gate fields. he ranks 13th in north america and trainers say he was riding his way to a triple crown race. >> no telling how great this

kid was gonna be. he was far above your ordinary jockey. >> michael's cousin, alex soliz is a top jockey who says even after spills like these, it is hard to quit the job they love. >> i broke vertebraes in my back. i have titanium in my back and screws. i broke both knees, both legs. you name it. >> soliz and martinez have had their scary moments, but golden gate employees say this one is the worst in a decade. >> one of the things i always told him is you have to be love doing this. if you don't feel like doing it, you quit. >> reporter: doctors tell the daily racing form he is the prime candidate for embryonic stem cell therapy to regenerate his spine. it is a long shot, but he may just get back in the saddle and ride again. in albany, alan wopping, abc7 news. >> let's hope so.

a dog missing for seven years is back at her san francisco home thanks to a court order. mary valero had no idea the little girl was alive when the dog was scaned by a vet who found a microchip identifying mary as the owner. but the man who found her was allowed to keep her because he had her more than 30 days. a gumming returned little -- a judge returned little girl to mary. >> does she look the same? >> her hair is shorter, but it will grow out. she is a wonderful animal. i know we will have a great time celebrating tonight. >> we love this dog. i still feel like it is my dog. i just want the dog to be happy. >> the humane society says the 30-day policy is not official and should not have applied to an owner wanting to claim it. there is celebration in the mine.

the couple planned to call the little girl carolina, but they changed their minds and named her esperanza, spanish for "hope." they hope to have them out by november or december. it certainly gave the miners a bit of a boost there. now to the weather forecast. sandhya patel is here. >> yeah, more than ups and downs. we are talking about the possibility of rain this weekend. you still have a few days to enjoy. i want to show uh time lapse from the high definition camera. marine influence this afternoon. you can see the marine layer quite evident there. the marine layer was 1400 feet deep this afternoon. look at the change. this this was about an hour ago showing you the view of the fog. the marine layer compressing down to a thousand feet. you can see market street there. low cloudiness and the fog is

not advancing very far. if you look at the night tight satellite imagery, you will see what is going on. because it is so shallow, it is compressed. it will not get very far. matter of fact, you can see market street and the clouds and the fog over the area. half moon bay is reporting visibility down to a mile and a half. so tomorrow morning during the commute you may run into some areas of fog and low cloudiness. 48 degrees in novato. 60s in the far inland east bay and 50s for the rest of the bay area. mild around the bay, extra clouds on friday. and then comes cooler weather and a chance of rain this weekend. we are talking about the possibility of some real rain. september you say rain? we will look at cly ma following. san francisco greater than .01 usually two days in september. the average rainfall, this might shock you, over a quarter of an inch in san francisco. this is average. .28 of an inch of rain in san francisco. so it is not unheard of.

this small ridge of high pressure is what is compressing the marine layer down a little bit. it was warmer. we are expecting slightly warmer weather as the ridge influences our area. and then we will see the changes. clouds thicken in advance of the front, and this is the front that we are watching carefully. computer models want to bring in the rain as early as saturday. even friday we see the clouds. the front slows down and stalls out as a wave develops. and then we start to notice around noontime the rain is moving into the north bay. as we head toward saturday night and sunday, rain spreading southward. it looks like mofts bay area -- most of the bay area could get wet with this system. overnight 50s, clouds, not advancing far inland. maybe just locally inland. tomorrow afternoon, a nice sunny day. mid70s for santa clara. 71 on the peninsula. downtown san francisco, up a couple degrees. 64 degrees.

and in the north bay, 78 in novato. up to 80 in santa rosa, calistoga. 75 castro valley. head inland and it is in the low to mid80s range. around the monterey bay, 73 in santa cruz. here is your accu-weather seven-day forecast -- 60s to mid80s the next two days. a little cooler on friday as the clouds come in. and then over the weekend, dan, mid70s only in the warmest locations. you need those umbrellas real soon here. that rain is looking promising. >> rain already. >> can you believe that? >> sandhya, thanks very much. coming up, don't get too comfortable. how airlines could cram 50

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arrested as he was about to fly from amsterdam to newark because he was drunk. after receiving an anonymous tip police picked him up in the cockpit, imagine it or not -- believe it or not. his blood alcohol was .23 which is just above the limit in the netherlands. here is something you will

not see in business class. these seats are called sky riders. they are more like saddles with armrests really. those would go from 32 inches apart to 23 inches under the new configuration. some 737's could add 50 passengers. the sky riders still need f.a.a. approval. why don't they just get it over with and take out the seats and put in poles and straps. they don't have peanut anyways. >> brilliant idea. who ever came up with that is brilliant. yeah, that's what we need. another thing of torture comes to mind. the giants hold the dodgers to one hit and somehow still lose. how is that possible? how is that possible? this is how. wouldn't it be nice if every time meg whitman told a lie her nose would grow? newspapers report the claims in this meg whitman ad are false. and she knows it. taxes went down under jerry brown. but whitman's nose keeps growing by the millions.

as governor, he cut waste got rid of the mansion and the limo budgets were balanced. $4 billion in tax cuts. world class schools and universities. clean energy promoted. 1.9 million new jobs created. california was working. i'm jerry brown. california needs major changes. we have to live within our means; we have to return power and decision making to the local level-closer to the people and no new taxes without voter approval. jerry brown the knowledge and know-how to get california working again.

meg whitman's nose keeps growing. whitman says california lost jobs under jerry brown. turns out 1.9 million jobs were created. she spent millions saying jerry brown raised taxes. fact is brown cut 4 billion in taxes. but whitman's nose keeps growing by the millions. >> closed captioning brought to >> closed captioning brought to good evening. it is hard to win a game when you get one hit. it is agonizing when you give up just one hit. it happened to barry zito. sparky is cute, but mom, what is he doing in dodger clothes? what is wrong? you can't blame this game on zito. signature curve ball and freezing casey. bottom of the fourth and man on first. he gets huff to ground into a double play and it ends the inning. giants without many threats in this contest. back to barry, high heat for gibons. zito gave up one hit.

looked like he was going to get out of a baseses loaded jam and ground ball to uribe and fields it and can't make the exchange. johnson scores and an error on the play. that is the lone run of the game. l.a. with one hit all night. zito clearly frustrated as this would have ended the inning. instead cershaw gets the win. he gets huff swinging to end it. the giants fall a game and a half halfback of san diego because the former a, tahada and the padres beat colorado for the second straight night. aaron cunningham comes in and 1-0 san diego. 4-0pads. another former a, carlos gonzalez with three r.b.i's, 104 on the year. rocks down 4-2. and why not finish the highlights with yet another former athletic? a pinch hit two-run homer in the eighth. san diego 7-6 over denver. the giants are a game and a halfback in the west and the wild card. a's and royals. eating fast balls for lunch.

aloha. 3-0 royals. that was off geo gonzalez. three in the first, three in the second. his second homer in as many days. he will hang a breaking ball and that's gone. the royals cruise 11-3. reggie bush did something that was never done before, gave back the heisman trophy. the king of college football for usc in 05, but an ncaa investigation showed bush received improper benefits. he is on probation and much of the blame pointing at bush who is now in the nfl. he gave back the trophy which is awarded to the top college players. the first time in the 75-year history of the heisman trophy the hardware has been rirnd. and no word -- has been returned. and no word if they will give to to vince young. >> he gets some heat off of him. >> yes, he was caught. game over. >> that's it for us. thank you for watching and we uh preesh -- apppppppppppppppppp

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